Satoshi Nakamoto Basic Unit: an AFK trench

Note: This article was translated automatically from Spanish to English using AI.

A market graph is like a 'collective mood electrocardiogram.' I’ve always found that fascinating. At Basic Unit Satoshi Nakamoto, we had 180 people competing in a fictional market from their phones.

By scanning the QR code from the (gorgeous, by the way) printout we handed out at the entrance, each guest had a simple console at their fingertips to buy or sell an imaginary asset, with no money involved and a basic interface where you could only go all-in.

That night, many people were going to interact with the concept of a market for the first time. The experiment aimed to make them feel 'in their bodies' how the web of interests and sensations is cooked up, which often ends up defining similar situations in real life.

We set up an interesting pool of merchandise and money (not ours, we’re the outcasts) to provide a real incentive to participate. And like in life - it’s well-known but I pointed it out during the presentation - "to win, you have to play the game."

I love to speculate about people’s behavior when you remove the consequences but leave the door open to chaos. The UBSN app aims to be far from the tacky 'gamification' aesthetic of conferences. It’s a camouflaged political toy. You might want to get involved, break things, feel FOMO, sabotage, manipulate, ignore it, or just want to play for the sheer joy of it. One wonders why the rich still want more money or why champions keep competing, and the answer, as always, is the most absurd: because beating others is inevitably a blast.

Once inside the event, the login requirements are intentionally weak. We know some will want to smurf. Anonymity (your identifier is an emoji) and the immediate sensory feedback to your actions on the screen and the faces of others amplify behaviors that keep us, for better or worse, alive. Throughout the chaos, different "mutators" change the state of the market, pushing trends in various directions and forcing participants to make quick decisions as new information comes in. And sometimes false information.

Everything else was built around that idea: Juan Ruocco kicked off the stage with a crash-course on cognitive warfare, equipping the attendees at the PVP with a handy tinfoil hat. He was incredibly generous with his time, had to rush off to the radio, and returned as soon as he could to proceed with communion with his congregation.

The raffle system was linked to the app. At specific moments, your screen would be 'hacked' with colors alternating between red and green until only one phone remained lit. During the design, we constantly thought about how to make the phone your weapon while ensuring your gaze was connected to the environment.

Everything went well. Chaos, laughter, people shouting for a token that doesn’t even exist. Libertarians, perucas, nihilists, devs, gamers, traders, artists. All on the same level. No one with extra information, everyone caught up in the same experiment. We managed to connect wizards and witches from all realms.

The always-enigmatic @notsashapak added fuel to the fire: many tools that seem 'neutral' today come directly from the military apparatus. SigInt, HumInt, propaganda, the Cold War, telecommunications. Guests were also able to speak up and talk with him about how when the technical environment changes, so does the way we spy, influence, and anticipate. The market - and the crypto invention - is not exempt from that same power infrastructure.

As the director, my job was to assemble the team, design, and coordinate the operations before and after. The community managed itself, was kind, took risks, debated, and laughed. And that’s what I wanted: for Unidad Nakamoto not to try to sell you anything, but simply to serve as a 'ground zero' for building other, less infantilizing dynamics. I think we deserved a better scene: diverse and distinct adults, thinking and playing with complex systems. And not the crypto 'advantage seekers' lining up to shine a Swede's boots and snag a grant.

Special thanks to Bitmex, Lemon, Sasha Pak, Juan Ruocco, Centro Cultural Matienzo, for their invaluable time, collaboration, and trust in making this happen in the best way imaginable. Initially, it was supposed to be on the 20th, but we had to move it to the 19th due to force majeure, and everyone mentioned responded with remarkable kindness in the face of adversity. It turns out it poured on the 20th. Watch out, buddy, Satoshi is watching.